A certificate of seclusion is an official confirmation in accordance with the German Condominium Act that an apartment or usage unit is structurally sufficiently separated (by walls, ceilings and a lockable entrance) from other apartments or rooms, i.e. that it is closed off and can be used to its full extent. It can also include specifically measured property areas, such as parking spaces or terraces.

A certificate of seclusion is issued per property and must include all buildings on a property, i.e. all houses, garages and lockable structures.

In the case of seclusion certificates for a permanent residential right or a permanent right of use, only the relevant unit needs to be shown.

The German Condominium Act (Wohnungseigentumsgesetz - WEG) of March 15, 1951, as amended on January 12, 2021, and the General Administrative Regulation for the Issuance of Certificates under the Condominium Act (AVA) of July 6, 2021, form the legal basis for the certificate of completion.

With the certificate of completion, the building inspectorate confirms that the requirements of §§ 7 Para. 4 S.1 No. 2 (residential or partial ownership) and 32 Para. 2 S.2 No. 2 (permanent residential right) WEG are met.

Together with the partition plan, it serves to divide a building into residential and / or partial ownership so that these can be entered in the land register as separate units. In this way, a multi-party house can be converted into condominiums in order to sell them individually. It is also possible to make provisions for future heirs or to secure permanent residential and permanent usage rights.

An apartment is considered self-contained if it is structurally, actually, spatially and functionally completely closed off from other apartments and rooms (e.g. by walls and ceilings) and has its own lockable access directly from the outside, from a communal stairwell or an anteroom of the communal property. If a residential or usage unit can only be reached via another unit, it is not self-contained.

A residential unit must be equipped in such a way that it can be used as living space. For example, an apartment must have a toilet and a shower or bathtub as well as a kitchen or cooking facilities that are located within the apartment. If there is no bathroom or shower in the approved existing building, only a certificate of partial ownership can be issued, but not a certificate of condominium ownership. The rooms - e.g. kitchen and bathroom - do not have to be on the same floor, but can also be on top of each other, provided they are connected by a staircase within the separate property, i.e. the apartment.

Additional rooms outside the apartment can also be assigned to a self-contained apartment. However, these must be designated in the partition plan with the same number as the apartments and must also be lockable. This also applies to "rooms not used for residential purposes". These are other rooms which, in contrast to the apartments, result from their intended purpose, such as commercial rooms, practice rooms, storage rooms, garages, cellars, warehouses, etc.

Measured property areas, such as parking spaces, terraces, garden areas, etc., are also considered enclosed. These do not require a structural boundary as long as they are clearly located on the property by means of measurements.

Stairwells, boiler rooms, utility rooms, bicycle cellars, drying rooms, playgrounds, etc. are mandatory common property. Common property must be accessible to all owners; access must not lead through other owners' separate property.

Any person is entitled to apply, but the owner must always sign the application form, even if the application is made by another person. A power of attorney is also required, for example, if the correspondence regarding the plans is handled by an architect's office. In this case, the architect completes or corrects the plans directly and submits them. As the person submitting the application, the owner receives the corresponding certificate of completion directly. Persons who can prove a legitimate interest in the certificate (e.g. a buyer by submitting a purchase contract) are also eligible.

You submit the completed and signed application for a certificate of seclusion digitally, which is available on our website. All you need to do is send the completed and signed application form by email to baulastenwiesbadende. We will then send you the access data for the Nextcloud data exchange platform by e-mail. You then upload all the required application documents as PDF files within five working days. We will then transfer your digital documents to our system and process your application.

The best way to find out which documents need to be submitted in a specific individual case is to contact the relevant building inspection department.

Telephone number: 0611 31- 6519

E-mail: baulastenwiesbadende

As a rule, the following documents must be submitted:

- signed application form

- Power of attorney, if applicable (if the contact person for building supervision is NOT the person submitting the application)
is NOT the person submitting the application)

- Description of changes (only for supplements)

- Calculation of living and usable space

- Extract from the real estate cadastre/real estate map (alternatively a site plan from the
surveyor - usually for new buildings that are not yet registered in the land register)

- Open space plan of the entire property

- Floor plan of each existing floor from basement to attic

- at least one section of each building

- All views of the building(s), drawn or as a color photo

You can also find detailed information on the documents and subdivision plans in our guide Application documents and plans for certificate of completion.

You will receive your certificate sealed by us in digital form so that you can print out as many copies as you require.

All submitted plans and other property documents must correspond to the approved status for existing buildings and to the planning status for new buildings. Although this is not usually checked by the building inspectorate, deviations of the actual condition from the submitted plans or the approved design that require approval remain illegal even if the certificate of completion is issued.

Plans

The plans should not exceed DIN A3 format and must be legible. The scale may be chosen freely, but must be verifiable (no distortion, enlargement or reduction in size). The plans must show the scale and details of the property, such as the district, parcel, street and house number.

Dimension chains or the indication of square meters are helpful for processing the application. Detailed information and explanations on the application and planning documents to be submitted can be found in our guide "Application documents and plans for certificate of completion"

The application is checked in accordance with the rules of the German Condominium Act (WEG). The building inspectorate therefore only checks whether the units are locked and accessible via the common property and whether the requirements for living space are met and the plans are correct. However, there is no inspection under building law. Therefore, the issuing of a certificate of completion is not the same as a building permit for buildings or parts of buildings on a property - an unauthorized structural condition is neither legalized nor tolerated by the building inspectorate through this certificate. Instead, the applicant must check for themselves whether the submitted partition plans correspond to the actual approved condition.

The certificate of completion includes the certificate issued by the building supervisory authority, which lists which units are certified as completed and with which numbers, and how many partition plans belong to the certificate, as well as the partition plans themselves.

The connection between the documents is made clear by a green stamp on the plans, which refers to the corresponding certificate.

Processing of the application only begins once the documents are complete (application, complete and correct subdivision plans) and takes approx. two to four weeks depending on the size of the building project. In the case of new buildings, the certificate of completion can be issued at the earliest at the same time as the building permit.

The special ownership of a parking space can belong to a residential or part-ownership unit. If access is secured via common property, it can also be the sole object of a part-ownership unit.

A parking space is considered enclosed if it is marked with dimensions or permanent boundaries and numbered. In this case, the space bears either the number of the special property belonging to it or its own number as a special property.

Seclusion is possible for parking spaces of all types, such as (underground) garages, ground-level outdoor parking spaces, multiple parking facilities, etc. Clear location and designation are important. Parking spaces without numbering are deemed to be common property. Similarly, it is possible to certify the seclusion of ground-level property areas such as terraces by precisely measuring the areas.

Special property is "real" property, i.e. the sole property of the condominium owner. This includes

- Apartments (referred to as condominiums). This generally includes the rooms of the apartment (including floor coverings, built-in furniture, non-load-bearing walls within the apartment and the sanitary installations).

- Rooms that do not serve residential purposes and are self-contained, unless they are intended for the common use of the condominium owners. These can be cellar rooms, offices, storage rooms, practice rooms, etc. (referred to as partial ownership)

- Parking spaces

Common property includes the land area not designated as separate property, the load-bearing parts of the building, roof and windows, etc. and facilities and equipment for common use (stairwells, elevators, bicycle rooms, boiler room, utility room, hallways, laundry rooms, etc.).

Areas or parts of the building with special rights of use are common property. Here, an owner is granted a sole right of use. Special rights of use can be granted to garden areas, parking spaces and storage rooms outside the apartment. They are not included in the scope of the certificate of separate ownership.

If a certificate of completion already exists for the unit in question and this is still available or has been submitted to the land register, only an addendum must be submitted for subsequent structural changes, such as the extension of the attic or the merging of two apartments. The application form of the state capital of Wiesbaden must be used for the addendum.

This addendum only contains those plans from which the changes result, for example floor plans, sections and views. Documents that are not required will be returned unstamped.

In addition to the amended plans, a so-called amendment description must be submitted, which briefly describes in writing which changes to the original certificate are to be recertified. For applications for amendments to certificates of completion issued before 2021, an excerpt from the property register must also be submitted.

The certificate of separation then issued only contains the changed apartments or rooms. The previous segregation certificates remain valid for the units not affected by the change.

If the size of residential or usage units changes, a corrected residential or usable area calculation must also be submitted.

The costs for a certificate of segregation depend on the number and size of the residential or usage unit and whether the certificate is being issued for the first time or is a supplement to the existing certificate.

The statutes on the levying of building supervision fees of the state capital of Wiesbaden (building supervision fee statutes) dated August 15, 2022 stipulate a fee range of 100 to 500 euros for the issue of a certificate of completion per residential or partial ownership. The specific amount of the fee depends on the administrative effort in each individual case, as well as in the case of a supplement.

For applications submitted in paper form, a surcharge of 25 percent of the fee charged for the original is applied.

As in the planning permission procedure, the calculation of the living and usable areas is carried out in accordance with the Living Space Ordinance.

The certificate of completion issued by the building inspectorate always remains valid - even if it has not been submitted to the land registry for division. However, the partition plans for the certificate of completion must correspond to the building condition on site and comply with the current legal regulations. However, a certificate of completion can be supplemented by an addendum and thus updated.

The notary can use the certificate of completion to draw up a declaration of division. The certificate of completion must then be submitted to the land registry together with the division agreement so that the division can take place there. Each separate property then receives its own land register sheet number and can therefore be sold or transferred individually.

With the "Ordinance on the reservation of approval for the establishment of residential or part-ownership and for the determination of areas with tight housing markets in accordance with the Building Code (Conversion Approval and Area Determination Ordinance)", the state government imposed a reservation of approval by the municipality in accordance with Section 172 (4) BauGB for residential or part-ownership in accordance with Section 1 of the WEG. In addition, for Wiesbaden, as an area with a tight housing market, buildings with more than six apartments that existed before
12 May 2022, the approval requirement pursuant to Section 250 (1) sentence 1 BauGB applies. The Wiesbaden City Planning Office - 6103 Urban Development is responsible for the approval required in accordance with Section 172 (4) BauGB

Contact: staedtebauwiesbadende

The Office for Social Work - 5108 Housing Department is responsible for the so-called conversion permit in accordance with § 250 Para. 1 S. 1 BauGB within the Wiesbaden city administration

Contact: wohnenwiesbadende